☆☆☆

Mark walked through the door of Lancer's headquarters, facing the bright reception area. The ladies at the reception desk at the pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info showed a bright smile, and the disappearance of Chris, the employees up and down Lancer were unaware.

"Hello, Mr. Smith. Susan at the front desk said, "Dr. Zhou said she would come down soon!"

Mark nodded, "Then I won't go up, I'll wait for her here." ”

He stepped aside and faced the wall with the LANCER logo on it, and Mark knew in his heart that the letters were actually Lanthur, Lan-and-Arthur. Although Chris has been saying that she chose the name in honor of Atherton High School, her alma mater, the few closest to her know that she is honoring her first love.

Chris was thirteen years old when he met Arthur.

Then, that happened.

After Arthur's death, she changed.

Chris was taken back to London to live for a while, and when her physical condition improved, she offered to let her teach her martial arts, saying that she had to learn to protect herself, at least until her uncle came to save her. In order to ensure training, Mark gritted his teeth and gave Chris devilish training, Chris worked hard, beyond the ordinary, training at least four or five hours a day. When she had enough training in mixed martial arts, Chris smiled and told Mark that it worked, not only to make her agile, but also to banish the fear in her heart.

Mark watched her grow, but the feelings in his heart were complicated.

Not only has his mind changed, but even his face, height, and body shape have changed, and the delicate and lovely Christina is gone.

Masculine, this can only be used to describe this change, and I don't know when everyone took the initiative to start calling her Chris.

When she had an accident, she was not by her side, which was understandable, but now, she is by her side, but she has not protected her.

Mark fell into a deep sense of self-reproach.

He walked to the product display area, where generations of Lancer products were on display, and by clicking on the touch screen, he could learn the stories behind the creation of these products.

Although Mark never said it, he also loved the Lancer company founded by Chris, and he wanted to protect both of them, and he wanted to save both.

There was a new female employee at the reception desk, and she watched Mark clasp his arms and lean on the display case, busy whispering to a colleague next to him. Despite being a closet gay, Mark attracts attention wherever he goes, whether heterosexual or homosexual. He was incredibly beautiful, and people often guessed his gender. He is wearing a blue-gray checkered casual jacket, navy blue short-sleeved shirt, slim-fitting black trousers, and a pair of brown oxford leather shoes. Because her sister is a costume designer, Mark has always been very particular about dressing. His shiny pale blonde hair hung down his forehead, his olive-colored skin radiant, his brow furrowed, and the fine lines between his eyebrows made him slightly tired—the female staff could tell that he had something on his mind.

Zhou Jia appeared on the first floor, dragging a suitcase with her and walking towards Mark.

Mark took the luggage in Zhou Jia's hand and lifted it gently. Although the two are incompatible on weekdays, he will not be stingy with the demeanor of an English gentleman.

"I'm ready, let's go!" Zhou Jia said.

"Where are we going?"

She didn't answer and went out first.

Mark followed up and asked, "Can you explain?"

"We're going to Los Angeles, I'll tell you the details on the way. ”

Mark shrugged and thought to himself: Zhou Jia called himself last night and said that she had a clue but needed help. This was very unexpected by Mark, unless there was really any important clue, Zhou Jia would definitely not come to ask for himself.

That's why he hurried back from Alaska and returned to Lancer early in the morning.

In order to save Chris, they put aside their personal feud for the time being.

Mark's jaguar is parked right in the visitor parking lot at the gate.

Zhou Jia opened the door and got in. After putting away his luggage, Mark also got into the car.

With the roar of the motor, the car drove towards San Jose Airport, where Lancer's plane was waiting.

☆☆☆

City of Angels.

People's impressions of Los Angeles are somewhat contradictory to the name. The people who live in it have a love-hate relationship with it, calling it "the city that can't be escaped".

Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States, a true metropolis on the West Coast, echoing New York.

Mark doesn't have any special affection for Los Angeles, but is used to small cities like San Francisco (1), and life in the Bay Area is more laid-back. San Francisco has palm trees, and there are them here, but Los Angeles has a unique variety of palm trees that towering into the sky and can be distinguished at first glance. Mark feels that the sun in Los Angeles is also a little more blazing than in San Francisco, like a spicy woman, staring straight at you, so that you can't escape.

Mark drove out of the airport, his car was a white Aston Martin, still powerful, but more British and low-key than the Jaguar.

Instead of heading towards downtown Los Angeles, the car drove west, crossed I405 and turned to West Wood.

Westwood is home to California State University, Los Angeles, one of Los Angeles' most prestigious universities. This area is a relatively independent small town, and most of the people you meet on the road are UCLA students.

Zhou Jia had already checked the route, and she read it to Mark. Mark silently followed the instructions.

A few minutes later, they drove onto West Wood Avenue. The street is lined with single-storey houses, most of which are shops, and the buildings are a bit old.

In fact, apart from the high-rise buildings in the city center, the mansions and lavish shopping areas of Beverly Hills, the sunset boulevard lined with bars and nightclubs, and the Walk of Fame and Chinese theaters that attract a large number of tourists, most of the streets of Los Angeles are like this, dilapidated, old low-rise houses, jagged, tightly packed together, like a pair of teeth in need of full correction, but because of the age of orthodontics, no one wants to spend the money to renovate and renovate.

Their car stopped in front of an old movie theater as promised.

Zhou Jia looked at his watch and said, "We arrived 7 minutes early, and he hasn't come out yet." ”

"Oh!"

Zhou Jia turned his face and looked at the side window.

Aside from the necessary conversations, the two spoke very little along the way.

Mark's eyes were suddenly attracted by a woman in front of the movie theater.

She wore a pink top, just like the color of the exterior wall of a movie theater. At this time, she was holding a long white pole and hanging letters on the door of the old movie theater. Above the door is the name of the cinema "CREST Crown Cinema".

A bald black man was placing letters made of large iron sheets on the ground in order, black and red. When it was done, he leaned against a black bicycle parked on the side of the road and looked up to see the woman hanging the letters on the ground one by one on the door. She picks up an "N" and puts it in the middle of SI and E. Don't underestimate the work of placing letters, the order in which they are placed is very particular.

When Mark saw such a scene, he suddenly remembered a picture from a movie "Inglourious Basterds".

This nondescript looking old movie theater, originally known as Westwood Cinema, was built in 1940. After the end of World War II, it was renamed Crown Cinema, and many avant-garde films premiered here, such as Mark and Chris's favorite director Woody Allen, his film "Dr. Strangelove", such as the classic horror film "Rosemary's-Baby" by the controversial director Roman Polanski......

Seven minutes passed.

The movie ended, but no audience came out of the cinema.

It's daytime, and the theater is showing La Traviata, the masterpiece of French writer Alexandre Dumas, which has countless film versions, but here it is the Italian version from 1967.

As you can imagine, there are not many audiences.

The door of the theater was ajar, and a man walked out, dressed in a neat suit on a hot day, and holding a white lily in his hand.

Zhou Jia sat up straight, reached out the window, and waved at the man.

Almost immediately a hoarse voice was heard, exclaiming excitedly, "Kitten, did you really bring him to Pull? Mark Smith?

Mark slid his sunglasses to the bottom of the bridge of his nose, squinting suspiciously at the man in front of him.

The man was a tall man, with curly hair and a thick beard under his big nose, and he stared at him with unspeakable excitement, which made people feel a little nervous.

"Didn't you ask me to bring him here?" Zhou Jia said to the man.

"yes!" he said, gesturing to the only tall building nearby, "I live there just two steps away." ”

With that, the man walked over there, and suddenly remembered something, and he ran two steps back, and took the lily in his hand to the lady who was hanging the letters in front of the cinema, and said loudly, "Today's movie is so good, Merci!"

The woman had to put down the long pole in her hand, took the flower, nodded politely, and said, "Thank you, I hope you will come again!"

The man turned and strode away.

The woman behind her handed the lily in her hand to the black man, both of them looking helpless, obviously accustomed to this strange man, and the woman continued to devote herself to the unfinished work before.

Mark really wants to ask Zhou Jia, came all the way to Los Angeles, is it to see such a person?

This is the great god "Hermit" in her mouth?

However, he still stopped, started the car, and slowly followed.

☆☆☆

This mixed-use high-rise building sits at the intersection of Wilshire Avenue and Glendon Road, with Westwood Presbyterian (2) Church on the right, the Hummer Museum diagonally on the left, and a nondescript cemetery behind it, with the entrance to the building's underground garage. On a wall overgrown with creepers, the sunlight shining through the cracks in the stairs is shining on a brown marble on the wall, on which is written the full name of the cemetery - the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Cemetery, the green grass is full of tombstones, some unknown directors, artists, musicians, but in the northeast corner of the cemetery, on a more inconspicuous wall, there is a tombstone, on which the goddess of sensuality Marilyn Monroe is resting. The scenery before death has nothing to do with the afterlife, the people here can definitely see it, so they will better enjoy the current fame, and chasing fame and fortune is the right way in Los Angeles.

Zhou Jia and Mark walked into the man's apartment one after the other.

The room was clean and tidy, minimalist neo-American style, with plenty of light streaming in through the spacious windows. A huge TV and home theater occupy one wall with matching cabinets, and a few decoration magazines are scattered on the cabinets. A coffee table with a matching cabinet sits in the middle of the house, next to a blue-and-white country sofa with matching single chairs. The color of the carpet is not dark, it is a soft brown color. As soon as you enter, you will find the kitchen, with a large bouquet of sunflowers on the dining table.

Zhou Jia was a little surprised.

Mark felt the same way. This room is a bit too clean and tidy, it doesn't look like a man's room.

"You are welcome, please be seated. When Pierre said, he squeezed his eyes at Zhou Jia, as if to say: I didn't expect you to really do it. "What do you want to drink? coffee or tea? I have an English Earl Grey tea, I'm sure Mark will like it!"

Mark doesn't like to call people he first meets by his own name, not to mention that he still doesn't know the other person's name.

"Please call me Mr. Smith. Mark was blunt.

"Mr. Smith?" Sensing Mark's displeasure and seeming to understand his faux pas, he smiled and said, "My name is Pierre, Pierre Varane, your most loyal fan!"

Zhou Jia knew that Pierre's nickname for Mark was "Thorny Rose", and sometimes, she felt that Pierre's persistence could not be regarded as a fan to some extent, but a "stalker". However, what exactly did Pierre want to do when he asked Mark to come, she didn't want to ask at all, Zhou Jia brought people here, even if Pierre's conditions were completed, she was eager to know about the "green kryptonite".

Before Zhou Jia could speak, Pierre turned around and walked to the edge of the dining table, and made tea in a teapot talking to himself, humming a little song in his mouth.

Zhou Jia was very helpless, so he had to sit down on the sofa first. Mark also sat down, she moved to the side by habit, and suddenly her hand touched something, and when she looked down, it turned out that there was a T-shirt stuffed in the crack of the sofa.

Yes, this is like the Pierre she knew, a somewhat sloppy and casual French otaku.

In fact, the world's top "hacker", his childhood was not easy, he was frail, not good at communication, and was often bullied by his friends, so he was obsessed with all kinds of superheroes created by Marvel. Because he wanted to stop getting sick, he aspired to become a doctor, so he chose the specialty of biomedicine. However, he soon discovered his unique "superpowers", and he seemed to be more suitable for being a "hacker" than studying genes. He cracked a lot of top-level encryption level password systems, hacked a lot of websites, both government and large companies, many political scandals, black hearts and transactions have been exposed one by one, and every time after successfully cracking down on crime, a "French lily" will be attached, and those who have read Dan Brown's book know that this is the mark of the French Hermit Order, and since then the title of "Hermit" has spread far and wide, and Pierre has many admirers.

Pierre once thought: Superman and Spider-Man are not all pretending to be reporters and have an ordinary identity as a cover, let alone himself? So, he came to Los Angeles in the United States and found an inconspicuous scientific research job in the UCLA Biogene Laboratory. The original intention of doing things is so naïve and simple, he always looks like a big boy who doesn't grow up.

In a few moments, Pierre brought the brewed tea and a crystal plate with a few biscuits. As soon as he sat down, his eye-catching blue trousers revealed his French red, white and blue tricolor flag socks, and today he was dressed like a Gallic rooster in heat.

"Where's Louise?" Zhou Jia asked suddenly.

Louise is Pierre's cat.

Five years ago, at a World Biomedical Conference, Pierre met Zhou Jia.

At that time, Pierre's cat Louise was suffering from an extremely rare blood disease, and Zhou Jia's topic at the conference was a vaccine to cure human lymphoid leukemia. After the meeting, at Pierre's plea, Louise was added to the list of animal experiments. The results were gratifying, and his illness gradually improved with the treatment, and finally he was able to save his life. Pierre learns that Zhou Jia is also a cat lover, and they slowly become good friends. Because of Zhou Jia's small stature, Pierre gave her the affectionate nickname "Kitten". Later, Pierre promised Zhou Jia that because he cured his cat, it meant that the "hermit" owed a great favor, and if one day, Zhou Jia needed help, as long as she spoke, he would do everything in his power.

Only then did Zhou Jia know his true identity.

Pierre winked at her and said, "She's fine, she's gone to live in the 'royal court'." ”

In order to receive potential visitors, he sent his cat to a pet boarding home called the "Royal Court". Then, he meticulously cleaned the room several times.

Mark couldn't interject on their topic, and to be honest, he didn't care. Today he gave Zhou Jia enough face, although this person looks nervous, but in the end it is her friend, so she should also lead the conversation. He maintained the English gentlemanly demeanor he deserved.

Although Mark couldn't see his emotions on the surface, Zhou Jia knew his mind completely. She asked, "Pierre, where did you get that picture?"

"Please, I've brought all the good tea, and you won't take a sip of it, kitten!"

Zhou Jia shrugged, took a symbolic sip, and continued to ask, "What have you found?"

Pierre still didn't answer, he picked up his teacup, raised his head and slowly took a sip of tea, and muttered: "This is the top royal tea Twinings of the British royal family, kitten, pay attention to tea etiquette...... Etiquette!"

With that, he continued to sit upright, elegantly and slowly holding up the teacup, as if demonstrating the authentic French tea etiquette.

Zhou Jia was used to Pierre's eccentricity, but Mark didn't think so, according to his observation, this person was prevaricating from just now, which was obviously a sign of weakness.

Pierre's apartment is like a Hollywood movie prop, beautiful from the front, but if you look at it from a different angle, you will see that they are nothing more than makeshift sets made of improvised wooden planks. This living room looks clean and beautiful, but if you look closely, you can see that there are obvious signs of tidying and cleaning in the messy places, a pile of dirty clothes sent to the dry cleaners, a model of Batman that was once placed on the TV stand, and a Star Wars laser sword are all piled up in the next room......

In fact, as long as you change the angle, the lie is very easy to debunk.

Mark was silent, for about twenty seconds, and said softly, "Mr. Varane." ”

"Oh, it's too outward, just call me Pierre. ”

Marc paused, and he decided to indulge the damn Frenchman a little more, "Pierre. ”

Pierre giggled and said in French: "Willing to help!"

The standard London accent came out of Mark's mouth word by word: "Please answer the lady's question first!"

Zhou Jia also sensed that something was wrong with Pierre. She didn't speak, looking at the drama of the French lily vs. the English rose in front of her.

Pierre squeezed out a funny expression and shouted, "Da Da!

Pierre looked at Mark and then at Zhou Jia, both of them with serious expressions and no smiles.

Zhou Jia felt that he must have misheard: "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

"I said, you have been fooled. ”

"What?"

"Fooled, fooled, don't let me repeat it, kitten, you hear me. Pierre sighed, "Do you have to put a camera on the side and then hold a big 'You've Fooled!' sign to believe me?"

"Are you kidding?"

"I'm not kidding. Pierre shrugged.

"Where did you get that picture?"

"I forged it myself! and added some of my imagination as you described it to me,"

Zhou Jia almost had to go back in one go.

"It's not that you're pushing me too hard, kitten, looking for a needle in a haystack, where do you let me go to find you?"

Zhou Jia waved his hand, ignored Pierre's argument, and said angrily: "Do you know how important this matter is to me?

Mark narrowed his eyes, confirming that Zhou Jia didn't know, and his gaze moved from Zhou Jia back to Pierre. His expression became more and more flat, without waves.

"You...... I'm!"

"Let me come!" Mark's voice sounded beside Zhou Jia.

Zhou Jia had never heard such a voice from Mark. Not too high, not too low, not too hard and not too soft, a neutral voice without any emotion, like announcing the arrival of a bus or announcing the weather forecast.

Mark stood up, and he said lightly, "One last chance for you, to be honest!"

Pierre shrugged as he pretended to be powerless.

Zhou Jia watched as Mark dragged Pierre up from the sofa chair and walked towards the balcony, like a scarecrow. Marc pulled open the floor-to-ceiling glass door and led Pierre into the balcony, slamming him against the edge of the balcony.

Pierre was still stiff-mouthed, and pointed downstairs and said, "Marilyn Monroe is buried there, and I swear to my goddess that everything I say is true." ”

Pierre may have taken the scene in front of him as a strange joke, perhaps he believed that Mark would not do it, or perhaps he thought Zhou Jia would dissuade him.

It's just a pity that he was wrong.

Pierre never imagined what would happen next.

Without warning, Mark slammed a short blow into the liver area under Pierre's ribs, and Pierre's face immediately shrunk into a ball, and the pain was so severe that he didn't cry out, and he felt like he was almost out of breath.

Mark knows the human body inside out, knows where to touch and where to get the most sucpt.

"I want you to answer well. If you can't speak, nod or shake your head. Marc learned the tone of Pierre's speech just now, "Attention! This is the most basic etiquette of life...... Manners. ”

With tears in his eyes, Pierre nodded.

Zhou Jia felt pain, she tried her best to maintain an indifferent expression, and she also wanted to know what the hell Pierre was up to.

Pierre opened his mouth but did not make a sound, and Mark's hand on Pierre's collar loosened slightly.

Pierre's mouth leaked a very heavy gasp, and then he laboriously spat out a few words: "I...... I'm telling the truth. ”。

As Pierre figured out the situation, he found himself grabbed by his ankle and lifted upside down on the balcony. He glanced at the ground like an oil painting by Salvador Dalí coming at him, directly below was the green carport roof, which was the shade of the building, even during the day, there was no human figure, next to it was the high wall of the mausoleum, and on the high wall was a black spiked fence, where he fell to death, it would not be beautiful, the more he thought about it, the more frightened he became, many things on the picture became distorted, Pierre's eyes were wide open, and he did not dare to move again.

At this time, Mark's voice came, very calm, and there was no trace of disorder in his breath: "I don't mind letting you accompany your goddess." ”

The blood quickly pooled on Pierre's head, and his brain swelled like a balloon, as if it was about to explode. Mark's voice sounded to Pierre's ears like the whisper of death. At this moment, Pierre felt the hand that was grasping his ankle slowly loosening, and he hurriedly shouted: "I say, I say, pull me back first." ”

Pierre lay on the floor, the back of his head resting against the wall on the inside of the balcony, gasping for breath so hard that he couldn't get up for a long time.

Many people worship violence, but they don't even know what real violence is.

Mark ignored him, went inside, straightened his clothes, and sat down on the couch.

Pierre took a deep breath, calmed his heartbeat, and slowly stood up.

When he returned to the living room, he looked at Mark cautiously, he deliberately walked around the table and moved towards the inner room, step by step, slowly, although the person in front of him was still the person he admired, but after being taught by him personally, anyone would behave like this, terrifying.

After taking two steps, he looked back at the two people in the living room, and finally said firmly, "Follow me!"